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Journalism of Courage
Bloomsbury India Saturday withdrew publication of their new book, Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story by Advocate Monica Arora, Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra, following a backlash.
In a statement, the publishing house said, “Bloomsbury India had planned to release Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story in September, a book purportedly giving a factual report on the riots in Delhi in February 2020, based on investigations and interviews conducted by the authors. However, in view of very recent events including a virtual pre-publication launch organised without our knowledge by the authors, with participation by parties of whom the Publishers would not have approved, we have decided to withdraw publication of the book. Bloomsbury India strongly supports freedom of speech but also has a deep sense of responsibility towards society.”
The book, based on the recent riots in the capital, attracted flak ire when news of its launch circulated on social media, further informing that it would be attended by BJP leader Kapil Mishra, film director Vivek Agnihotri, OpIndia editor Nupur J Sharma and the authors. Presence of the speakers triggered a controversy, with many saying that the publication house was furthering a communal agenda.
Authors and actors like Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, Samit Basu, Swara Bhasker tweeted on the issue.
According to reports, Bloomsbury had Friday said that the launch event was not organised by the publishing house, and that it had no information about the same.
